Just when you thought it was going to be one of those weeks where nothing good happened, out of nowhere Street London 1985-1996 rolled into Instagram feeds via the good people at IDEA. A collection of the most marvelous and magnificently major looks to grace London’s streets in the late 80s and 90s, expect big hair, big outfits, big colors, big hats! Shot by legendary street style snapper Shoichi Aoki, it’s no exaggeration to say the book is entirely, 100% amazing. It showcases a whole load of movers, shakers, and fashion fiends.
Although Shoichi recently closed down his legendary magazine FRUiTS, citing a lack of cool kids to photograph in Tokyo, it would seem London was a bit of a fashion goldmine back then.
Read: What the closure of FRUiTS Magazine means for Japanese street style.
Need more convincing? In STREET London 1985-1996 you can feast your eyes on a youthful Helena Bonham Carter outside London Fashion Week, back in 1989 (when shows were held at Kensington Olympia). There are also goths in the rain on the Kings Road with Robert Smith hair. There are 80s power shoulders, 80s power prints, 80s new romantics, and 80s girls in cowboy hats at Portobello Market. There’s a guy in a blue and yellow Michelin hat and white dungarees with a copy of i-D in his back pocket. And there’s dancing queen Michael Clark in a black kilt and stripey knee high socks. What more do you need in a book? Nothing.
In Japan it costs 4,000 yen. Which sounds a lot tbh, but in England, you can get it for just £37.50 (or about $47 before shipping) from IDEA, who is releasing it exclusively with a cover its team designed. It’s available at DSM NYC and London and online right now. Go go go!
Credits
Text Felix Petty
Photography Shoichi Aoki